2 weeks ago when we had our blood drive I gave a double red cell donation. It was my first time giving a double red donation and after I was done - I felt great. If you remember that Saturday, it was a sunny day, somewhat mild for January and not too windy, (much like yesterday) so when I got home I decided I would go for a short run. I knew I had just donated blood so I wasn’t going to go far or fast, and since I really felt fine I didn’t think the blood donation would bother me. So 2 hours after donating red blood cells, I started my run. I got about 200 yards from my house when I started thinking, wow, I am having a hard time getting my breath, I’m really out of shape. I only ran 2 miles that day and had to stop 4 times to walk and catch my breath, and I kept thinking to myself –how did I get so out of shape in 2 weeks?
You can probably already figure out what was wrong, besides some poor judgment in deciding to run 2 hours after donating blood, the problem was that the double red donation depleted the number of red blood cells in my body and it is the red blood cells that carry oxygen to all our muscles. With all my muscles and heart and lungs crying out for oxygen and not enough blood cells to do the work, I was having some trouble. Now I share all of this because it is a great example of what Paul is talking about in 1 Corinthians 12. Paul reminds us that our bodies are made up of many different parts and each part – no matter how small or unseen – is important and has a job to do. If our heart, lungs and muscles are going to function well then they need those red blood cells bringing them oxygen. Our bodies really are amazing machines that are made up of many different parts and every single part is needed if the body is going to function well.
With that image in mind, Paul tells us that we are the body of Christ. This means that together each of us individually helps makes up the body of Christ which is the church. Paul says we become part of this body through baptism (12:13). Now let’s be clear that it is not the water that makes us part of the body, it is our commitment to Jesus Christ. What unites us as one body is our common commitment to worship God, follow Jesus and serve the people in need around us. We were reminded again this morning that what really takes place in our baptism and in our profession of faith is that we are committing ourselves to a way of life where we trust God and follow Jesus together. If we profess Jesus as Savior and Lord, we are part of the body of Christ – it is inescapable.
Look at 12:14-16. What Paul is saying here is that being part of the body of Christ is inescapable, like it or not we are part of a community and movement that is larger than ourselves and we have a part to play within it, we really don’t have an option. The foot can’t just decide it doesn’t want to be part of the body. The hand can’t say, no I really don’t want to work with the rest of the body, so I’m going to leave. If they remove themselves from the body, they die. If we decide we just don’t want to be part of the body of Christ, then there is a part of our faith and I think a part of our lives that dies. Being part of the body of Christ is inescapable – if we trust God and follow Jesus we are connected to one another and we need to think seriously about what this means for us.
The first thing this means is that we are no longer independent; we do not live our lives of faith on our own thinking we don’t need each other, we are now interdependent. As part of the body we are not only connected to one another but we need one another if we are going to survive and thrive in this world. Look at 12:20. We can’t look at one part of the body and say, I don’t need you. The eyes need the hands, the hands need the feet, and all of our muscles and heart and lungs need those red blood cells. Jesus showed us that we are interdependent throughout his ministry.
Think about how Jesus ordered his ministry. He could have done everything on his own and been a one man show. He could have supplied for all his needs, travelled on his own and accomplished all God wanted for him by himself –after all, he was God. But Jesus chose not to do that, Jesus made the conscious decision to work with others. What is the very first thing Jesus did once he entered into public ministry? After his baptism Jesus went off into the wilderness to pray and to think about what kind of leader he was going to be and when he came back to Galilee the first thing he did was to call together his disciples. After his baptism – Jesus formed a body because he knew that the way God wanted him to work in this world was going to be through a team, so Jesus called together Peter, Andrew, James and John and then the rest of the disciples.
Now what’s interesting to think about is that Jesus didn’t just call individual disciples to follow him; Jesus started by calling an already existing body. Jesus first called Peter and Andrew, 2 brothers who already worked together as fisherman; and then he called James and John, two more brothers who worked together as fishermen. Some people think that maybe these 4 men all worked together, they certainly knew each other because they all fished the same waters and stored their boats along the same shores in Galilee. So the first 4 disciples, 1/3 of Jesus’ ministry team already knew each other and they were comfortable working together. Jesus knew he needed to form a strong cohesive body to work in this world and so he first called together an already functioning body to form the foundation of the discipleship team. It is not only a brilliant leadership move on the part of Jesus, but it shows us how important it is to be part of a body.
Jesus shows us and he teaches us that we need to work together. He shows us that the fullness of life and the kingdom of God is only going to be found when we are living in community with one another – we will not and can not find this kind of life and fullness on our own. The Holy Spirit didn’t come upon the disciples when they were scattered off by themselves but when they were together. The first act of the church was to organize 3000 new believers into one community of faith. Our faith is all about community and being interdependent and so we have to get rid of this idea that we can just live on our own and experience the fullness of God. We can not. We need each other for life and for faith and according to the Reader’s Digest for happiness.
I love the Reader’s Digest because they are always talking about different studies that have been done and one study showed that people who went to church were happier than other people. They said it had nothing to do with their religious beliefs (which I’d like to argue), but what they said is that what made a difference was being part of a group. They said what makes people happy is “the community part”. It’s holding hands and singing. It’s knowing folks who will bring you soup if you get sick.” I would also say that what makes people feel happy is taking soup to those we know who are sick – it’s serving that makes us happy, not just being served. But that all comes in community, and this is why small groups are so important; they not only will make us happier, but they are part of how we connect to the body of Christ – so consider being part of a small group during the upcoming Lenten season. If you want a genuine and authentic encounter with Jesus, join a small group, become part of a Sunday School class, the choir, bell choir, or the Easter Choir – any small group, just connect yourself with the larger body of Christ and open yourself to the fullness of God.
So being part of the body of Christ is inescapable, and we are interdependent – but being part of the body also tells us that no one is insignificant. Look at 12:22-26. Each part of the body is important; each part of the body has its job to do. Within our physical bodies every part has it’s job, even those parts that are small and unseen are vital to our overall health. Those tiny red blood cells that no one ever sees are essential if our bodies are going to run efficiently. Some of the smallest bones in the body are found in the inner ear, and yet if those bones get damaged or broken it can not only cause hearing loss, but it can cause such profound dizziness and imbalance that it makes it virtually impossible for us to even stand up. You may not realize it but our toes, from big to little, also help us stay balanced when we stand or walk, so something very small and seemingly insignificant is actually essential to our overall wellbeing, and it is the same with the body of Christ, every member of the body is important, and again it is Jesus who shows us this.
Think about the people Jesus reached out to during his life and ministry: children, women, prostitutes, tax collectors, and lepers. These were all people the world said didn’t matter, they had no significance, but Jesus included them in his life and work. Jesus said, not only do they matter, but they are significant – they are important to the overall health and wellbeing of the body. The tax collector Matthew became one of Jesus disciples and the children were the model for what it meant to have faith. So every member of the body of Christ is important; every member is needed. As Faith Church, we need everyone working together if we are going to be able to share the love and grace of God with our community and world. There are gifts that only you have that the body of Christ needs. You might be the one who has the gift and ability that will make all the difference in what we as a church are going to be able to do. No one is insignificant, no one is unimportant.
Many times we feel like we may not have gifts to offer to the work of God because we only think of ministry as worship, so if we can’t play the organ, sing in the choir or preach to the people – we think that you don’t have anything to offer or share, but worship is not the church and the body of Christ does so much more than gather for one hour on Sunday morning. The body of Christ is at work every hour of every day sharing the love of God, and the gifts that you have are needed. You might be the one who will take a meal to someone in need that will open the door for them to experience the love of Jesus. You might be the one who will visit a shut-in and remind them that God has not forgotten them. You might be the one who will help fix someone’s home and give them the hope to carry on. It might be your prayers that will lift up someone in need and change someone’s life; it might be the money you give that will provide the help for a child in Haiti. You do have something to give, you do have something to share with the body of Christ that will help the world see and experience Jesus and each and everyone one of us needs to share what we have.
No one is insignificant and if we all work together, what we can do in the name of Jesus will be indescribable. The Bible is pretty clear that together we can do more than we ever thought or imagined. Look at Ephesians 3:20-21. Immeasurably more then we ever thought or imagines. Working together we can do more for God than we thought possible. Jesus said, you will do even greater things than I am doing, (John 14:12). That promise has always amazed me that we can do more than Jesus. Now individually this is not true. On our own we can not do more than Jesus, but working together at the body of Christ, working together with the spirit of God working in us and through us we can do even greater things than Jesus. Together as the body of Christ, we can change this world.
Together we can feed the hungry and care for the needs of the lost, lonely and hurting. Together we can offer hope to the people of Haiti. Together we can shine the light of Jesus into every corner of this world which even Jesus himself couldn’t do when he was just working on his own. If we come together and offer our gifts to God and if together we support the work of God, then what we can do in Jesus name will be indescribable – more than we ever thought or imagined. As Faith Church, if every person here this morning would come together as one body – the work we could do would be indescribable and together we could change the lives of people in our community.
Being part of the body of Christ is inescapable. If we have accepted Jesus and if we trust in God then we are all members of this body and we are interconnected. No one is insignificant, all are important and if we work together using the gifts God has given us, the difference we will be able to make will be indescribable. No one else will do it; no one else can do it, because we are the body of Christ.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
spiritual gifts - 1 Corinthians 12
Watching the pictures and video of the devastation in Haiti this past week has reminded me of some simple truths that we need to keep in mind. The first is that our lives here really are fleeting and it only takes a few seconds for everything to be taken away. Look at Psalm 103:15-16. In an instant our lives can change. Whether it’s a fire downtown or an earthquake 2,000 miles away, these tragic disasters remind us that life in this world is precious and fragile so we need to make the most of it. We need to treasure and value each day and each opportunity that God gives us.
The second truth that the earthquake reminds us of also comes from Psalm 103:15-16, life here is so much more than our possessions. We are not just physical beings and our lives are not just about our homes, clothes, cars, jobs and belongings because if a fire or flood or an earthquake were to take all of that away – we are still here and our lives still have value, worth and significance and God still loves us. Every face we saw this morning has eternal value to God. God really does love and care for each and every one of them. We are more than the sum of all the goods we possess, we are more than all the relationships in our lives, and we are even more than our bodily health and strength. We have a spiritual side. We are spiritual beings as well as physical beings and so we will never be fully complete and satisfied until we develop our spiritual side as much as we develop our physical lives.
This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:1 about spiritual gifts – or spiritual things – I do not want you to be ignorant. I never noticed it before but the word ignorant is very close to the word ignore. I don’t think Paul’s concern is that we don’t cognitively understand spiritual things; I think what Paul’s saying is that he doesn’t want us to be unaware of them. Maybe a different way of saying this would be, Brothers and sisters, don’t ignore the spiritual side of your lives because we are spiritual beings as much as we are physical beings and we will never be complete, we will never fully experience the life God has for us, until we get in touch with and understand our spiritual side and how God speaks to us and shapes our spirit.
Now the source of this spirit in our lives is not found in the world around us and it doesn’t come from some place deep within our own being, it comes from God. That spiritual part of our lives is the spirit of God breathing life into us and giving our lives shape and meaning. If we think back to the story of Creation, after God formed us out of the dust, after God formed our physical being – we were not complete, so God breathed into us the breath of life. When God breathed into us, we were given a spiritual dimension and so our spirit comes from God and I believe that God wants to continually fill us with his spirit because it is that spirit that brings us life and brings our lives meaning.
So how are we filled with the Holy Spirit? What’s the key to the Holy Spirit guiding us, and speaking us to us, and leading us closer to Jesus and assuring us of salvation – all things that the Bible says the Holy Spirit does in our lives? What’s the key to the Holy Spirit bringing these gifts that Paul talks about into our lives? Well listen up because here’s the key, here’s the secret. The way we get the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, the way we get the Spirit of God to fill us up so that all the fruit of God’s spirit and the gifts of God’s spirit and the power and courage of God’s spirit is working with us is to ASK God for the Holy Spirit. It really is that simple. We ask God to fill us with us his spirit. We can use whatever words we want and we can take any posture we want, the key is to simply ask the Holy Spirit to fill us up because if we ask God will provide..
God says ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. When we ask God to fill us with his holy spirit – God will fill us up and as we experience God’s spirit working in our lives we will begin to experience more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. We will not only taste this fruit of God’s spirit but God will guide us to a place where we will not only want to serve him but God himself will gives us the gifts we need to serve him, and if we will use those gifts, we will find ourselves serving God in ways we never thought possible.
That’s really what the rest of this passage from 1 Corinthians is all about. There are a variety of gifts – but they all come from the same spirit. There are a variety of ways we will serve God and each other – but there is one spirit who gives us those gifts to serve. When the spirit of God fills us up, we not only experience the fullness of life, but we are given gifts that help us serve God and help us find a deeper meaning and purpose and joy in life.
As God gives us the gifts of his Holy Spirit so that we can serve him more effectively, there are two important things to remember. The first is that God does not give us these gifts for us. God doesn’t give us his power and these abilities so that we can promote ourselves and get ahead in life – the gifts are given to glorify God and help serve others. 1 Corinthians 12:7, they are given for the common good. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts so that we can build up the work of the church and help those in need around us.
The second thing to remember is that while no one person has been given all the gifts, each of us have been given at least one of them. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11. Notice that the gifts are spread out throughout the whole body of Christ. Each person receives something – we all have a gift, but no one has them all. I love how God sets this up because it forces us to be humble and admit that we can’t do it all by ourselves, we need to work together. God sets it up so that we need each other and that we will all have to work together if we are going to get things done.
The relief efforts in Haiti remind us that we each have unique gifts and all of them are needed if we are going to make a difference. There are people who have specific search and rescue gifts, there are trained dogs that are needed in certain areas and at certain times, but once those people are found we need doctors and nurses to treat their wounds. We might also need heavy equipment operators to move debris and help rescuers get to the people, and as we have seen this week and in many other disasters, we need the dedicated men and women of the army to help keep order and peace as people are helped. What we see is that a coordinated effort is needed and none of us can do it by ourselves, we need the gifts that others bring and we need to use those gifts together to glorify God and to serve others.
It’s also important to remember that if we have asked God to fill us with his holy spirit, then God has given us a gift to use and we can’t ignore that gift or think that ours is not valuable. Think about what would happen if all the doctors stayed home, or if the bulldoze operator didn’t think his abilities were useful. Things would fall apart, people would die. God set it up so that everyone was needed, so if all the gifts are going to be working together then all the gifts are needed which means that all the people need to be working together. Don’t sit there today thinking you don’t have a gift to offer, you do. There is some unique way God has gifted you to serve and you need to use that gift for God and for God’s people.
Another reason we can’t ignore the gift God has given us is because we will never be fully complete or satisfied in life until we are using it. Remember, we are spiritual beings not just physical beings, and so our lives will not be complete until we are using the spiritual side of our lives as well as the physical side of life. We have to use these gifts of God, we have to share the wisdom and knowledge God has given us, we have to work to heal people and use the faith God has given us to step out and do those things that God is calling us to do. We need to use the natural gift and abilities God has given us, but we also need to use these spiritual gifts and this is not the full list. Paul talks about other gifts in his letter to the Ephesians and the Romans, there’s the gift of teaching and pastoring, leading and serving. There’s the gift of encouragement and sacrificial giving and showing mercy. There are many gifts but one spirit who gives each and every one of us a gift to use for the glory of God and for the common good.
I hope my now you might be asking yourself how we can discover the gifts God has given us? Well, the first thing we can is take some time to read and learn about the gifts (see: 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:11-13, Romans 12:1-8), we can also ask others what gifts they might see in us. There are spiritual gift inventories that can be helpful in revealing how God has uniquely put us together, but then there is the one important question we can ask to help us discover the unique gifts God has given us. What are we passionate about? What get’s you excited and energized when you think about serving God? Maybe you watched those pictures this morning and know God is calling you to go to Haiti someday to help rebuild, maybe you get excited when you think about teaching children or leading small groups. Maybe you want to comfort those who are sick in the hospital or living in nursing homes right here. Maybe you are passionate about social justice and helping the poor.
If we want to know how God’s spirit is working within us and what gifts God has given us we need ask ourselves what moves us? What are we passionate about? How is God speaking to us today? What brings us alive when we think about serving God or the people in the world around us? These are important questions because if we are serving God the way God has created us and gifted us to serve – it will bring us incredible joy and a deep sense of purpose in life. If teaching children brings us alive then we need to use that gift in the life of the church. If tending to those who have lost everything in disasters gives us a deep sense of satisfaction and meaning, then maybe we need to find ways to serve God in missions. I believe that when we are serving God with the gifts God has given us we will be experiencing the deepest sense of satisfaction and purpose. Jesus said I have come that you might have life and life abundantly and I believe that abundant life is experienced when we are serving God with the gifts of God’s spirit.
If we aren’t feeling God’s spirit or power working in us or if we are struggling to figure out what gifts God has given us, there is one simple place for us to start, we need to ask God to fill us with his spirit. If that’s what you need, ask God today.
The second truth that the earthquake reminds us of also comes from Psalm 103:15-16, life here is so much more than our possessions. We are not just physical beings and our lives are not just about our homes, clothes, cars, jobs and belongings because if a fire or flood or an earthquake were to take all of that away – we are still here and our lives still have value, worth and significance and God still loves us. Every face we saw this morning has eternal value to God. God really does love and care for each and every one of them. We are more than the sum of all the goods we possess, we are more than all the relationships in our lives, and we are even more than our bodily health and strength. We have a spiritual side. We are spiritual beings as well as physical beings and so we will never be fully complete and satisfied until we develop our spiritual side as much as we develop our physical lives.
This is why Paul says in 1 Corinthians 12:1 about spiritual gifts – or spiritual things – I do not want you to be ignorant. I never noticed it before but the word ignorant is very close to the word ignore. I don’t think Paul’s concern is that we don’t cognitively understand spiritual things; I think what Paul’s saying is that he doesn’t want us to be unaware of them. Maybe a different way of saying this would be, Brothers and sisters, don’t ignore the spiritual side of your lives because we are spiritual beings as much as we are physical beings and we will never be complete, we will never fully experience the life God has for us, until we get in touch with and understand our spiritual side and how God speaks to us and shapes our spirit.
Now the source of this spirit in our lives is not found in the world around us and it doesn’t come from some place deep within our own being, it comes from God. That spiritual part of our lives is the spirit of God breathing life into us and giving our lives shape and meaning. If we think back to the story of Creation, after God formed us out of the dust, after God formed our physical being – we were not complete, so God breathed into us the breath of life. When God breathed into us, we were given a spiritual dimension and so our spirit comes from God and I believe that God wants to continually fill us with his spirit because it is that spirit that brings us life and brings our lives meaning.
So how are we filled with the Holy Spirit? What’s the key to the Holy Spirit guiding us, and speaking us to us, and leading us closer to Jesus and assuring us of salvation – all things that the Bible says the Holy Spirit does in our lives? What’s the key to the Holy Spirit bringing these gifts that Paul talks about into our lives? Well listen up because here’s the key, here’s the secret. The way we get the Holy Spirit to work in our lives, the way we get the Spirit of God to fill us up so that all the fruit of God’s spirit and the gifts of God’s spirit and the power and courage of God’s spirit is working with us is to ASK God for the Holy Spirit. It really is that simple. We ask God to fill us with us his spirit. We can use whatever words we want and we can take any posture we want, the key is to simply ask the Holy Spirit to fill us up because if we ask God will provide..
God says ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened for you. When we ask God to fill us with his holy spirit – God will fill us up and as we experience God’s spirit working in our lives we will begin to experience more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. We will not only taste this fruit of God’s spirit but God will guide us to a place where we will not only want to serve him but God himself will gives us the gifts we need to serve him, and if we will use those gifts, we will find ourselves serving God in ways we never thought possible.
That’s really what the rest of this passage from 1 Corinthians is all about. There are a variety of gifts – but they all come from the same spirit. There are a variety of ways we will serve God and each other – but there is one spirit who gives us those gifts to serve. When the spirit of God fills us up, we not only experience the fullness of life, but we are given gifts that help us serve God and help us find a deeper meaning and purpose and joy in life.
As God gives us the gifts of his Holy Spirit so that we can serve him more effectively, there are two important things to remember. The first is that God does not give us these gifts for us. God doesn’t give us his power and these abilities so that we can promote ourselves and get ahead in life – the gifts are given to glorify God and help serve others. 1 Corinthians 12:7, they are given for the common good. The Holy Spirit gives us gifts so that we can build up the work of the church and help those in need around us.
The second thing to remember is that while no one person has been given all the gifts, each of us have been given at least one of them. 1 Corinthians 12:8-11. Notice that the gifts are spread out throughout the whole body of Christ. Each person receives something – we all have a gift, but no one has them all. I love how God sets this up because it forces us to be humble and admit that we can’t do it all by ourselves, we need to work together. God sets it up so that we need each other and that we will all have to work together if we are going to get things done.
The relief efforts in Haiti remind us that we each have unique gifts and all of them are needed if we are going to make a difference. There are people who have specific search and rescue gifts, there are trained dogs that are needed in certain areas and at certain times, but once those people are found we need doctors and nurses to treat their wounds. We might also need heavy equipment operators to move debris and help rescuers get to the people, and as we have seen this week and in many other disasters, we need the dedicated men and women of the army to help keep order and peace as people are helped. What we see is that a coordinated effort is needed and none of us can do it by ourselves, we need the gifts that others bring and we need to use those gifts together to glorify God and to serve others.
It’s also important to remember that if we have asked God to fill us with his holy spirit, then God has given us a gift to use and we can’t ignore that gift or think that ours is not valuable. Think about what would happen if all the doctors stayed home, or if the bulldoze operator didn’t think his abilities were useful. Things would fall apart, people would die. God set it up so that everyone was needed, so if all the gifts are going to be working together then all the gifts are needed which means that all the people need to be working together. Don’t sit there today thinking you don’t have a gift to offer, you do. There is some unique way God has gifted you to serve and you need to use that gift for God and for God’s people.
Another reason we can’t ignore the gift God has given us is because we will never be fully complete or satisfied in life until we are using it. Remember, we are spiritual beings not just physical beings, and so our lives will not be complete until we are using the spiritual side of our lives as well as the physical side of life. We have to use these gifts of God, we have to share the wisdom and knowledge God has given us, we have to work to heal people and use the faith God has given us to step out and do those things that God is calling us to do. We need to use the natural gift and abilities God has given us, but we also need to use these spiritual gifts and this is not the full list. Paul talks about other gifts in his letter to the Ephesians and the Romans, there’s the gift of teaching and pastoring, leading and serving. There’s the gift of encouragement and sacrificial giving and showing mercy. There are many gifts but one spirit who gives each and every one of us a gift to use for the glory of God and for the common good.
I hope my now you might be asking yourself how we can discover the gifts God has given us? Well, the first thing we can is take some time to read and learn about the gifts (see: 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4:11-13, Romans 12:1-8), we can also ask others what gifts they might see in us. There are spiritual gift inventories that can be helpful in revealing how God has uniquely put us together, but then there is the one important question we can ask to help us discover the unique gifts God has given us. What are we passionate about? What get’s you excited and energized when you think about serving God? Maybe you watched those pictures this morning and know God is calling you to go to Haiti someday to help rebuild, maybe you get excited when you think about teaching children or leading small groups. Maybe you want to comfort those who are sick in the hospital or living in nursing homes right here. Maybe you are passionate about social justice and helping the poor.
If we want to know how God’s spirit is working within us and what gifts God has given us we need ask ourselves what moves us? What are we passionate about? How is God speaking to us today? What brings us alive when we think about serving God or the people in the world around us? These are important questions because if we are serving God the way God has created us and gifted us to serve – it will bring us incredible joy and a deep sense of purpose in life. If teaching children brings us alive then we need to use that gift in the life of the church. If tending to those who have lost everything in disasters gives us a deep sense of satisfaction and meaning, then maybe we need to find ways to serve God in missions. I believe that when we are serving God with the gifts God has given us we will be experiencing the deepest sense of satisfaction and purpose. Jesus said I have come that you might have life and life abundantly and I believe that abundant life is experienced when we are serving God with the gifts of God’s spirit.
If we aren’t feeling God’s spirit or power working in us or if we are struggling to figure out what gifts God has given us, there is one simple place for us to start, we need to ask God to fill us with his spirit. If that’s what you need, ask God today.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Unstuck
Have you ever felt kind of “stuck” in your life? Have you ever gotten to a place where you have stopped and look around and said, OK, how did I get here and how do I get myself out, or at least how do I get myself moving forward again? Whether it’s related to a job, or a relationship, or just a larger sense of purpose or calling in life, my guess is that many of us have been in those places where we have felt stuck. Maybe you are in that place today. I have been stuck a few times in my life. Going through college I felt God wanted me to be involved in ministry by working in television, so after graduation I ended up in Los Angeles with the goal of finding a job in the TV industry. The problem was I didn’t have a very good plan for going about this; I literally just kind of ended up in the city after a cross country trip. I had no car to get around the city. I had no contacts to help me find a job or even a plan on where to start looking. All I had was a degree in TC from MSU, but without even a day’s worth of experience in an actual TV station or production studio, that degree was not going to even open a door for me. I was stuck. Stuck in LA, stuck trying to figure out what to do with my life, stuck trying to figure out what God wanted me to do, stuck just knowing what to do the next day.
Sometimes we feel stuck when we are looking for jobs, but we can also feel stuck in a job. I’ve been stuck in a few jobs where I have had to wrestle with the question, OK God, is this really what you want from me? Is this what I need to be doing with my life? And if not, how do I get unstuck? How do I start moving forward?
We not only get stuck in and out of our jobs and in and out of relationships, but we can also get stuck in our faith. For me those moments have come when I suddenly realize that when it comes to God, I’m just going through the motions. I might be faithfully attending worship and bible studies, but I’m missing out on the larger joy and passion that should come when we are walking in a relationship with God.
Getting stuck in their faith is where Israel was as a nation when John the Baptist arrived on the scene. If we go back to Luke 3:1-3 we see exactly where Israel was when John began his ministry.
All these names do two things for us; first they give us a clear indication of the time when John, and therefore Jesus, began their ministry. If we piece together all the rulers and the times when they ruled, we will discover that John and Jesus began their ministry about 27 AD. So Luke helps us pinpoint the date when all these things took place, but this historical overview also helps us see what life and faith for Israel would have been like at that time. The names of Emperor Tiberius and Pontius Pilate and Herod and Philip and Lysanias make it clear to us that Israel is dominated by Roman rule and authority. With Herod, Philip and Lysanias ruling over all the regions that made up Israel, we see that Israel is not only under pagan or roman rule, they are not even united, they have been divided into three different ruling regions.
We also know that during the time when Annas and Caiaphas were religious leaders in Israel, the faith of the people was not strong and vital. They were going through the motions, they were following the rules and the regulations, but there was no real passion or joy in what they were doing. I think some of the Jewish people’s own words recorded in Luke reflect this situation. In Luke 3:8 it says that the people were saying to John, Look we have Abraham as our ancestor so we are OK. Because of their history and heritage, because they were following the rules of their faith, the people didn’t feel like they had to make any changes, or go any deeper. They were content and comfortable which had led them to a place of complacency. Even if they wanted to get unstuck, they didn’t know what to do. When John called them to repent and baptized – to go deeper in their faith they say to John, what should we do. I think all these words show us just how much Israel was feeling stuck in life and faith. They weren’t experiencing real life or passion or joy, and they didn’t know what do to move forward. They were stuck.
Now here’s what is important for us to see here, when God’s people are stuck – he does something about it. In this situation God sent John with a message that would help the people move forward and experience the real passion and joy of life and faith. The message God sent was this: Repent and be baptized. (Luke 3:3) The way God gets people unstuck is through repentance and baptism. The way we get unstuck in life and in faith is to repent and be baptized and this works because repentance and baptism do three important things, they call us to stop, and to surrender and then start up again. Stop, surrender and start.
If we want to get unstuck in life and in faith then the first thing we have to do is stop. We need to stop and acknowledge that what we are doing and the direction we are going is simply not working. Sometimes getting unstuck means having to stop and acknowledge that we are lost, or that the choices we have made have brought us to this place that’s not the best for us and so need to make some new choices that will get us moving in new directions. Many years ago I was in Greensboro NC trying to find my way to the Greensboro hospital to visit a woman who was scheduled to have heart surgery the next day. I was one block from the hospital when I ended up on a one way road going in the opposite direction of how I wanted to be going. So I just hopped over one block thinking I would be on a one way road going in the right direction, but when I got there, I ended up on a one way road still headed in the wrong direction, away from the hospital and out of town. I quickly became lost but I kept driving because I was sure I could get myself back to where I needed to be. So I kept driving and I kept driving and I kept driving. Forget about asking for directions, I didn’t even stop to evaluate where I was or think about how to turn myself around.
Many times we may feel stuck in life and faith but we keep driving. We keep doing all those things that got us stuck in the first place instead of stopping and taking some time to think and pray about how we ended up here and where we want to go. Sometimes the best thing we can do when we want to move forward, or want to head off in a new direction is to first simply stop. Can we stop planning, stop plotting new courses, stop thinking about how we can move ourselves forward and just be still.
Eight of the most powerful words of scripture, and yet eight of the most difficult words for many of us to live out come from Psalm 46:10 where God tells us, Be still and know that I am God. The first step in getting unstuck in life and faith is to just stop and be still, and that’s the first step in repentance. Repentance doesn’t mean to just confess our sin or to feel guilt and shame for our failures and mistakes, repentance means to turn but before we can turn around we first have to be willing to stop. Repentance often calls us to be still and acknowledge that not only is God with us, but that maybe the direction of our lives or the desires of our heart are simply wrong and that we need to have them change.
So the first step in repentance and getting ourselves unstuck is to stop. Israel had to stop what they were doing long enough to see that all the ritual and rules they were following weren’t getting them anywhere and that their faith really had lost its heart and soul. They had to stop, but stopping isn’t all there is, we also have to be willing to surrender. That’s what baptism is all about – baptism is surrendering ourselves to God. It’s submitting ourselves to God completely so that God can begin to develop his heart and his life within us. That’s really what this ritual or water is all about. We often think of baptism as just a washing away of sin, but really – baptism is going into the waters of death so we can die to ourselves and rise up and live a new life with God. We lose that image with infant baptism, but that’s what’s going on here, that’s what baptism is all about. It’s surrendering ourselves fully to God so God can help us go in that new direction and find the deeper joy and passion of life.
While baptism is a sacrament in the church that most people only go through once, the truth is that surrendering ourselves to God is a moment by moment, day by day lifestyle. We need to go through these waters daily. We need to stop and be still and confess our sin and our needs to God daily. Whenever we are feeling stuck in life and faith, we need to stop at the water and surrendering ourselves to God so that we can take that next step, and start out again.
After the people of Israel stopped what they were doing and went out to John to repent and be baptized, they all had to come up out of the water to start living a new life. When the people came to John and were baptized they would ask him, what should we do. After we repent and are baptized, what should we do? What John told them was to go back and live a new life. Tax collectors go back and don’t cheat people any more – just collect the money that is owed - life a new life. He said to the crowds – when you go home, start living a life of love and generosity. If you have extra clothes, give them to those who don’t have any. If you have extra food, share it with those who are hungry. Start living a new life – move in a new direction.
When I was stuck in LA, I finally got to that place where I stopped and said, OK, this is not working. I admitted that the decisions that had led me to this place weren’t the best decisions I had ever made in life and I surrendered to God who then said, OK, Andy, now go live a new life. That new life for me meant humbling myself and asking my parents for money to return home to CT and starting over again. Sometimes starting in a new life is a humbling experience because we have to admit that the choices we have made and directions we had been going have been wrong – but if we are willing to move beyond that – we can experience all that passion and purpose and power God that has for us.
So what we see here is that God shows us how to get unstuck in life. We have to stop and be still, we have to surrender ourselves to God and then get up and start off in a new direction. This process is what it means to repent and be baptized, and it was this word that was given to the people of Israel to help them get unstuck. John was offering people something new and fresh and it worked. People were coming to John because these steps of faith worked and people were feeling free and empowered in their faith once again.
God honors these steps of faith and the reason I can say this with conviction is not because they have worked for me, because Jesus chose to do this himself. We almost miss it in Luke’s gospel because the baptism of Jesus is not written of in much detail, but Jesus stopped what he was doing, surrender himself to God through baptism and rose up out of the water he started living a new life. Now there is no evidence that Jesus ever felt stuck in his life or in his faith, but it’s interesting to think about whether or not Jesus may have had those feelings. If Jesus was truly fully human and experienced and felt all that we have experienced and felt in life, then did Jesus perhaps feel stuck in his life at this point in time? I don’t know, but I do know that by choosing to stop, surrender himself to God and the start out in a new direction as a public teach and preacher and Messiah, Jesus himself is saying that this is the right road for us to take whenever we are feeling stuck.
Jesus not only shows us that this is a good road for us to take, but God does as well. Look at God’s response when Jesus does stops, surrenders and starts out in a new direction, Luke 3:22. This affirmation by God not only affirms his love for Jesus, but by choosing this moment, God is also saying that repentance and baptism are good things for us. Stopping in life and faith to see where we are and where we are headed is a good thing. Surrendering ourselves to God is a good thing and trusting God to move us out in new directions with a renewed sense of purpose and power, is a good thing. I believe when we stop and surrender and start out again, I believe that when we repent and are baptized, God says to us, You are my son, you are my daughter, you are my child and with you and I am well pleased.
Sometimes we feel stuck when we are looking for jobs, but we can also feel stuck in a job. I’ve been stuck in a few jobs where I have had to wrestle with the question, OK God, is this really what you want from me? Is this what I need to be doing with my life? And if not, how do I get unstuck? How do I start moving forward?
We not only get stuck in and out of our jobs and in and out of relationships, but we can also get stuck in our faith. For me those moments have come when I suddenly realize that when it comes to God, I’m just going through the motions. I might be faithfully attending worship and bible studies, but I’m missing out on the larger joy and passion that should come when we are walking in a relationship with God.
Getting stuck in their faith is where Israel was as a nation when John the Baptist arrived on the scene. If we go back to Luke 3:1-3 we see exactly where Israel was when John began his ministry.
All these names do two things for us; first they give us a clear indication of the time when John, and therefore Jesus, began their ministry. If we piece together all the rulers and the times when they ruled, we will discover that John and Jesus began their ministry about 27 AD. So Luke helps us pinpoint the date when all these things took place, but this historical overview also helps us see what life and faith for Israel would have been like at that time. The names of Emperor Tiberius and Pontius Pilate and Herod and Philip and Lysanias make it clear to us that Israel is dominated by Roman rule and authority. With Herod, Philip and Lysanias ruling over all the regions that made up Israel, we see that Israel is not only under pagan or roman rule, they are not even united, they have been divided into three different ruling regions.
We also know that during the time when Annas and Caiaphas were religious leaders in Israel, the faith of the people was not strong and vital. They were going through the motions, they were following the rules and the regulations, but there was no real passion or joy in what they were doing. I think some of the Jewish people’s own words recorded in Luke reflect this situation. In Luke 3:8 it says that the people were saying to John, Look we have Abraham as our ancestor so we are OK. Because of their history and heritage, because they were following the rules of their faith, the people didn’t feel like they had to make any changes, or go any deeper. They were content and comfortable which had led them to a place of complacency. Even if they wanted to get unstuck, they didn’t know what to do. When John called them to repent and baptized – to go deeper in their faith they say to John, what should we do. I think all these words show us just how much Israel was feeling stuck in life and faith. They weren’t experiencing real life or passion or joy, and they didn’t know what do to move forward. They were stuck.
Now here’s what is important for us to see here, when God’s people are stuck – he does something about it. In this situation God sent John with a message that would help the people move forward and experience the real passion and joy of life and faith. The message God sent was this: Repent and be baptized. (Luke 3:3) The way God gets people unstuck is through repentance and baptism. The way we get unstuck in life and in faith is to repent and be baptized and this works because repentance and baptism do three important things, they call us to stop, and to surrender and then start up again. Stop, surrender and start.
If we want to get unstuck in life and in faith then the first thing we have to do is stop. We need to stop and acknowledge that what we are doing and the direction we are going is simply not working. Sometimes getting unstuck means having to stop and acknowledge that we are lost, or that the choices we have made have brought us to this place that’s not the best for us and so need to make some new choices that will get us moving in new directions. Many years ago I was in Greensboro NC trying to find my way to the Greensboro hospital to visit a woman who was scheduled to have heart surgery the next day. I was one block from the hospital when I ended up on a one way road going in the opposite direction of how I wanted to be going. So I just hopped over one block thinking I would be on a one way road going in the right direction, but when I got there, I ended up on a one way road still headed in the wrong direction, away from the hospital and out of town. I quickly became lost but I kept driving because I was sure I could get myself back to where I needed to be. So I kept driving and I kept driving and I kept driving. Forget about asking for directions, I didn’t even stop to evaluate where I was or think about how to turn myself around.
Many times we may feel stuck in life and faith but we keep driving. We keep doing all those things that got us stuck in the first place instead of stopping and taking some time to think and pray about how we ended up here and where we want to go. Sometimes the best thing we can do when we want to move forward, or want to head off in a new direction is to first simply stop. Can we stop planning, stop plotting new courses, stop thinking about how we can move ourselves forward and just be still.
Eight of the most powerful words of scripture, and yet eight of the most difficult words for many of us to live out come from Psalm 46:10 where God tells us, Be still and know that I am God. The first step in getting unstuck in life and faith is to just stop and be still, and that’s the first step in repentance. Repentance doesn’t mean to just confess our sin or to feel guilt and shame for our failures and mistakes, repentance means to turn but before we can turn around we first have to be willing to stop. Repentance often calls us to be still and acknowledge that not only is God with us, but that maybe the direction of our lives or the desires of our heart are simply wrong and that we need to have them change.
So the first step in repentance and getting ourselves unstuck is to stop. Israel had to stop what they were doing long enough to see that all the ritual and rules they were following weren’t getting them anywhere and that their faith really had lost its heart and soul. They had to stop, but stopping isn’t all there is, we also have to be willing to surrender. That’s what baptism is all about – baptism is surrendering ourselves to God. It’s submitting ourselves to God completely so that God can begin to develop his heart and his life within us. That’s really what this ritual or water is all about. We often think of baptism as just a washing away of sin, but really – baptism is going into the waters of death so we can die to ourselves and rise up and live a new life with God. We lose that image with infant baptism, but that’s what’s going on here, that’s what baptism is all about. It’s surrendering ourselves fully to God so God can help us go in that new direction and find the deeper joy and passion of life.
While baptism is a sacrament in the church that most people only go through once, the truth is that surrendering ourselves to God is a moment by moment, day by day lifestyle. We need to go through these waters daily. We need to stop and be still and confess our sin and our needs to God daily. Whenever we are feeling stuck in life and faith, we need to stop at the water and surrendering ourselves to God so that we can take that next step, and start out again.
After the people of Israel stopped what they were doing and went out to John to repent and be baptized, they all had to come up out of the water to start living a new life. When the people came to John and were baptized they would ask him, what should we do. After we repent and are baptized, what should we do? What John told them was to go back and live a new life. Tax collectors go back and don’t cheat people any more – just collect the money that is owed - life a new life. He said to the crowds – when you go home, start living a life of love and generosity. If you have extra clothes, give them to those who don’t have any. If you have extra food, share it with those who are hungry. Start living a new life – move in a new direction.
When I was stuck in LA, I finally got to that place where I stopped and said, OK, this is not working. I admitted that the decisions that had led me to this place weren’t the best decisions I had ever made in life and I surrendered to God who then said, OK, Andy, now go live a new life. That new life for me meant humbling myself and asking my parents for money to return home to CT and starting over again. Sometimes starting in a new life is a humbling experience because we have to admit that the choices we have made and directions we had been going have been wrong – but if we are willing to move beyond that – we can experience all that passion and purpose and power God that has for us.
So what we see here is that God shows us how to get unstuck in life. We have to stop and be still, we have to surrender ourselves to God and then get up and start off in a new direction. This process is what it means to repent and be baptized, and it was this word that was given to the people of Israel to help them get unstuck. John was offering people something new and fresh and it worked. People were coming to John because these steps of faith worked and people were feeling free and empowered in their faith once again.
God honors these steps of faith and the reason I can say this with conviction is not because they have worked for me, because Jesus chose to do this himself. We almost miss it in Luke’s gospel because the baptism of Jesus is not written of in much detail, but Jesus stopped what he was doing, surrender himself to God through baptism and rose up out of the water he started living a new life. Now there is no evidence that Jesus ever felt stuck in his life or in his faith, but it’s interesting to think about whether or not Jesus may have had those feelings. If Jesus was truly fully human and experienced and felt all that we have experienced and felt in life, then did Jesus perhaps feel stuck in his life at this point in time? I don’t know, but I do know that by choosing to stop, surrender himself to God and the start out in a new direction as a public teach and preacher and Messiah, Jesus himself is saying that this is the right road for us to take whenever we are feeling stuck.
Jesus not only shows us that this is a good road for us to take, but God does as well. Look at God’s response when Jesus does stops, surrenders and starts out in a new direction, Luke 3:22. This affirmation by God not only affirms his love for Jesus, but by choosing this moment, God is also saying that repentance and baptism are good things for us. Stopping in life and faith to see where we are and where we are headed is a good thing. Surrendering ourselves to God is a good thing and trusting God to move us out in new directions with a renewed sense of purpose and power, is a good thing. I believe when we stop and surrender and start out again, I believe that when we repent and are baptized, God says to us, You are my son, you are my daughter, you are my child and with you and I am well pleased.
Monday, January 4, 2010
A Journey of Faith, Worship and Change
I think this story of the Magi is one of the most misunderstood stories of the Bible and part of the reason for this is because of the beautiful nativity scenes we set up each year, and the Christmas cards we send, and the Christmas pageants we produce with our children. In all of those things we place the Magi right next to the shepherds, but that is not how the story goes. The shepherds heard about Jesus the night he was born and they arrived immediately. As soon as they heard from the angel that the Messiah had been born it says they went with haste and found an infant wrapped in strips of cloth lying in a manger, but the Magi didn’t arrive the night Jesus was born, in fact they could have arrived months if not years later. Look at Matthew 2:1: AFTER Jesus was born in Bethlehem, not the night he was born, but after, sometime later.
The logic of the story goes this way. The star appeared at the birth of Jesus and so it took some time for the Magi to figure out what the star meant. They had to study the skies and figure out that the star proclaimed the birth of a king of the Jews. Then they had to decide to make a journey to find the king and also figure out where to go. They chose Jerusalem because it was the capital of Israel and their thinking was that if the child was the king – he would be born in the most important royal city. So they make plans to go to Jerusalem, but since the journey was going to take some time they had to make some preparations and gather some supplies and of course decide on and purchase their gifts. Then there was the time it took them to travel from the countries in the East to Jerusalem. I read this week that some scholars believe this journey could have been hundreds if not a thousand miles and so the trip would have taken a considerable amount of time. Once they arrived in Jerusalem they met with the religious leaders who told them that the king they were looking for was not to be born there but Bethlehem, so now they had to travel to Bethlehem, a much shorter journey, but a journey that took some time none the less.
Obviously all of this did not happen overnight which is why it not only says, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but look also at Matt 2:11. Notice that it doesn’t say anything about a stable and manger; it says they entered the house and saw the child, not an infant, but a child. So the Magi simply were not there the night Jesus was born, they weren’t standing next to the Shepherds and they weren’t looking into a manger. In fact it could have been up to two years after Jesus birth and the reason we think that is that if we keep reading in Matthew we find out that once Herod realizes that the Magi are not coming back to report to him, he sends people out to kill all the children around Bethlehem who are two years of age or under. What Herod did was figure out the time the Magi said the star appeared and then had all the children killed who would have been born from that moment on.
So our nativity scenes and Christmas cards don’t get the story right, but that’s not all, we don’t even know how many Magi there were. Matthew never says there were three of them, just that there were 3 gifts. So the story the way we picture it in our minds and on our cards could have been very different than what actually happened, but in one sense none of that really matters, what does matter is that the Magi made this journey and it was a journey of faith and worship that changed their lives. God calls us this year and every year to embark on a journey of faith and worship that will change our lives – will we take it? Are we willing today to step out in faith to experience the fullness and power of God?
Following Jesus is first and foremost a journey of faith. The Bible defines faith as the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen. The Magi had faith because they were convinced that the star in the sky would lead them to a king. They didn’t see the king before they started out, but they had faith they would find him. When they arrive in Jerusalem they ask the officials, where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? Their question is not, was a child born who is the king of the Jews, it was where is the child, they had no doubt the king had been born – they had a deep and abiding faith and trust that the star in the sky was a sign that a king had been born. So their journey was primarily a journey of faith.
Following God is a journey of faith. We don’t see God and we don’t see Jesus standing with us and yet we are convinced of his presence in our lives. We chose to live our lives according to the teaching and example of Jesus because we are convinced that God is real. For many of us, we know God is real because God has placed some kind of star in our lives, we have had some kind of sign or experience that assures us that God is real and that in his grace and love we are forgiven and loved. What has been your star? What has given you the faith and trust to follow Jesus? For some it is the conviction of God’s word. For some it is a peace that passes all understanding, for others it has been the healing of a heart or a relationship. What has been the star that strengthened your faith? Like the Magi we need to share this so that others can learn to place their faith and trust in God and begin to experience the love of Jesus for themselves. Reader’s Digest asked people to share miracles they had experienced, I think it would be great if we shared our faith. What has been that star that has given us the conviction and confidence that God is real and with us.
The journey of the magi was not just a journey of faith, it was also a journey of worship – they didn’t want to find the child who was born king of the Jews just to say hi or to prove that their star gazing abilities were accurate, they wanted to find the king so they could worship him, which is why they showed up with generous and extravagant gifts. One of the things the Magi show us is that real worship always involves giving and sacrifice. The Magi sacrificed their time and security and comfort to make the journey to find the king and when they find him they give themselves to him, they worship him and give gifts of Gold, incense and myrrh. True worship calls for us to sacrifice our time and maybe our comfort and security as we give the gift of our hearts and lives to God. How is God calling us to give ourselves to him more completely in this new year? What gift of time is God asking us to give? What sacrifice is God asking us to make? How can our worship look more like the worship of the Magi?
God calls us to worship him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength – with all our time, energy, thoughts and resources – with all that we have and all that we are. God really does want worship where we let go of everything so we can trust in him and him alone. That’s a long journey for most of us. I’m not sure how many of us are even there yet. I don’t know about you, but I still have to surrender to God more of my time, my devotion, my attitudes and pride and words and actions and gold. I still have to stop trusting in myself and my own good deeds so that I can trust in God more and more. It is a long journey for us to get to a place where we worship God and God alone, and yet step by step we hear the call to worship God and so give to him the gift of love, trust and the self surrender.
We are not just on a journey of faith and worship but the magi show us that we are on a journey that needs to change us. Look at 2:12 – isn’t it interesting that after the magi find and worship Jesus they can not return home the way they came? When we have a genuine encounter with Jesus we will also be changed. Life simply can’t be the same as it was before. There are fundamental changes that take place as we follow Jesus. As we follow Christ God calls us to stop living for ourselves and to start living for others. Jesus calls us to forgive not just once or twice but continuously. We are called to deny ourselves and take up a cross – willingly surrender ourselves to God and to the needs of the people we see around us.
Everyone who followed Jesus was changed. The blind received sight, the lame walked, the dead were raised, sinners were forgiven, those living in shame were lifted up and loved. Everyone was changed and our journey of faith and worship needs to change us. How has our faith changed us in the past year, and what changes need to take place in the coming year? What new road will God be asking us to take? Finding and following Jesus in the new year will change us if we will allow God to enter into our hearts and lives.
I want to invite you all to do something different when you go home today – go home by a different road and as you do ask God to show you all the things that can change and maybe need to change in the year ahead.
The logic of the story goes this way. The star appeared at the birth of Jesus and so it took some time for the Magi to figure out what the star meant. They had to study the skies and figure out that the star proclaimed the birth of a king of the Jews. Then they had to decide to make a journey to find the king and also figure out where to go. They chose Jerusalem because it was the capital of Israel and their thinking was that if the child was the king – he would be born in the most important royal city. So they make plans to go to Jerusalem, but since the journey was going to take some time they had to make some preparations and gather some supplies and of course decide on and purchase their gifts. Then there was the time it took them to travel from the countries in the East to Jerusalem. I read this week that some scholars believe this journey could have been hundreds if not a thousand miles and so the trip would have taken a considerable amount of time. Once they arrived in Jerusalem they met with the religious leaders who told them that the king they were looking for was not to be born there but Bethlehem, so now they had to travel to Bethlehem, a much shorter journey, but a journey that took some time none the less.
Obviously all of this did not happen overnight which is why it not only says, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, but look also at Matt 2:11. Notice that it doesn’t say anything about a stable and manger; it says they entered the house and saw the child, not an infant, but a child. So the Magi simply were not there the night Jesus was born, they weren’t standing next to the Shepherds and they weren’t looking into a manger. In fact it could have been up to two years after Jesus birth and the reason we think that is that if we keep reading in Matthew we find out that once Herod realizes that the Magi are not coming back to report to him, he sends people out to kill all the children around Bethlehem who are two years of age or under. What Herod did was figure out the time the Magi said the star appeared and then had all the children killed who would have been born from that moment on.
So our nativity scenes and Christmas cards don’t get the story right, but that’s not all, we don’t even know how many Magi there were. Matthew never says there were three of them, just that there were 3 gifts. So the story the way we picture it in our minds and on our cards could have been very different than what actually happened, but in one sense none of that really matters, what does matter is that the Magi made this journey and it was a journey of faith and worship that changed their lives. God calls us this year and every year to embark on a journey of faith and worship that will change our lives – will we take it? Are we willing today to step out in faith to experience the fullness and power of God?
Following Jesus is first and foremost a journey of faith. The Bible defines faith as the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things unseen. The Magi had faith because they were convinced that the star in the sky would lead them to a king. They didn’t see the king before they started out, but they had faith they would find him. When they arrive in Jerusalem they ask the officials, where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? Their question is not, was a child born who is the king of the Jews, it was where is the child, they had no doubt the king had been born – they had a deep and abiding faith and trust that the star in the sky was a sign that a king had been born. So their journey was primarily a journey of faith.
Following God is a journey of faith. We don’t see God and we don’t see Jesus standing with us and yet we are convinced of his presence in our lives. We chose to live our lives according to the teaching and example of Jesus because we are convinced that God is real. For many of us, we know God is real because God has placed some kind of star in our lives, we have had some kind of sign or experience that assures us that God is real and that in his grace and love we are forgiven and loved. What has been your star? What has given you the faith and trust to follow Jesus? For some it is the conviction of God’s word. For some it is a peace that passes all understanding, for others it has been the healing of a heart or a relationship. What has been the star that strengthened your faith? Like the Magi we need to share this so that others can learn to place their faith and trust in God and begin to experience the love of Jesus for themselves. Reader’s Digest asked people to share miracles they had experienced, I think it would be great if we shared our faith. What has been that star that has given us the conviction and confidence that God is real and with us.
The journey of the magi was not just a journey of faith, it was also a journey of worship – they didn’t want to find the child who was born king of the Jews just to say hi or to prove that their star gazing abilities were accurate, they wanted to find the king so they could worship him, which is why they showed up with generous and extravagant gifts. One of the things the Magi show us is that real worship always involves giving and sacrifice. The Magi sacrificed their time and security and comfort to make the journey to find the king and when they find him they give themselves to him, they worship him and give gifts of Gold, incense and myrrh. True worship calls for us to sacrifice our time and maybe our comfort and security as we give the gift of our hearts and lives to God. How is God calling us to give ourselves to him more completely in this new year? What gift of time is God asking us to give? What sacrifice is God asking us to make? How can our worship look more like the worship of the Magi?
God calls us to worship him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength – with all our time, energy, thoughts and resources – with all that we have and all that we are. God really does want worship where we let go of everything so we can trust in him and him alone. That’s a long journey for most of us. I’m not sure how many of us are even there yet. I don’t know about you, but I still have to surrender to God more of my time, my devotion, my attitudes and pride and words and actions and gold. I still have to stop trusting in myself and my own good deeds so that I can trust in God more and more. It is a long journey for us to get to a place where we worship God and God alone, and yet step by step we hear the call to worship God and so give to him the gift of love, trust and the self surrender.
We are not just on a journey of faith and worship but the magi show us that we are on a journey that needs to change us. Look at 2:12 – isn’t it interesting that after the magi find and worship Jesus they can not return home the way they came? When we have a genuine encounter with Jesus we will also be changed. Life simply can’t be the same as it was before. There are fundamental changes that take place as we follow Jesus. As we follow Christ God calls us to stop living for ourselves and to start living for others. Jesus calls us to forgive not just once or twice but continuously. We are called to deny ourselves and take up a cross – willingly surrender ourselves to God and to the needs of the people we see around us.
Everyone who followed Jesus was changed. The blind received sight, the lame walked, the dead were raised, sinners were forgiven, those living in shame were lifted up and loved. Everyone was changed and our journey of faith and worship needs to change us. How has our faith changed us in the past year, and what changes need to take place in the coming year? What new road will God be asking us to take? Finding and following Jesus in the new year will change us if we will allow God to enter into our hearts and lives.
I want to invite you all to do something different when you go home today – go home by a different road and as you do ask God to show you all the things that can change and maybe need to change in the year ahead.
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